Charles Lindbergh may have been the first to fly solo across the Atlantic, but he was hardly alone; from April 14 to May 21, 1927, there were 14 aviators attempting to win the $25,000 Raymond Orteig Prize. In this "fantastically entertaining book" (Boston Globe), Joe Jackson puts Lindbergh's feat in the full context of the race and its competitors. He delves into the lives of famous competitors like polar explorer Richard Byrd, French war hero René Fonck, and millionaire Charles Levine, as well as forgotten flyers like Bernt Balchen, Stanton Wooster, and Clarence Chamberlin. Here too are those, like Ruth Elder, who were inspired by Lindbergh's fame and success to make their own record attempts.

"By retelling the story of Charles Lindbergh's great 'first' alongside the nice and not-so-nice guys who finished last—from Admiral Byrd to Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan—Joe Jackson gives us a book that is as suspenseful as it is thoughtful. Atlantic Fever is full of wonder at what it really means for human beings to fly, an achievement in which failure is not merely possible but even probable. Plainspoken and fast-paced, exhilarating and hilarious, Atlantic Fever reminds us why we are drawn to look skyward and why it is just as important to look out below."—Scott A. Sandage

"A penetrating evaluation of Lindbergh's triumph set against the backdrop of the hero-worshipping Twenties. Painstakingly researched, Jackson's balanced work is a singular contribution to the history of flight in general and to Lindbergh historiography in particular."—Library Journal (starred review)